Bourke St stabbing lone wolf attack

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE BOURKE STREET KNIFE ATTACK:

- Attacker is a Somali man who came to the country in the 1990s; reported to be 31 years old, he lived in the Melbourne's northwest

- identified by News Corp Australia as Mohamed Khalif and also Hassan Shire

- known to state and federal police and ASIO through his relatives who are persons of interest; previously known to police for cannabis use, theft and driving offences, according to media reports

- the attack begins just after 4pm on Friday

- the jihadi sets his ute on fire at the corner of Bourke and Swanston streets (the fire is put out within 10 minutes; he had gas cylinders in the back but these are rendered safe by the bomb squad before they could catch fire)

- he then begins stabbing people on the street

- a man believed to be in his 60s dies at the scene; two other men, aged 26 and 58, suffer non-life threatening injuries (the 58-year-old is identified as Tasmanian businessman Rod Patterson)

- two police officers corner the man, who is seen in footage repeatedly trying to stab them

- brave bystanders use a shopping trolley and a chair in a bid to help police

- police are forced to shoot the man after tasering him; he is shot once in the chest and later dies in hospital

- Islamic State claims the attack but provides no proof

- streets around the area remain cordoned off